Motor Overheated - Removal / Rebuild Step 1
06-15-14, 08:34 AM
#32
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Id get a factory manual if you're serious, pulling and rebuilding an engine is not a job you feel you can feel your way through. You can find them online 
or pony up and buy a physical manual from some place like Ebay. It's money well spent, it will save you countless hours and headaches.
I personally think you can do more diagnosis while the engine is still in the car before you need to pull it and also believe the odds are in your favor that it can be fixed without a rebuild or swap.
or pony up and buy a physical manual from some place like Ebay. It's money well spent, it will save you countless hours and headaches.I personally think you can do more diagnosis while the engine is still in the car before you need to pull it and also believe the odds are in your favor that it can be fixed without a rebuild or swap.
The worst case is the motor can be fixed easily in the engine compartment. I estimate there are two/three more hours of work getting ready to pull the motor. I'm sure pulling the motor will be an ordeal. Getting it back in even more so. But we're talking about an extra 10 hours of total work. If I knew everything I needed to know about cars then that would be wasted time. But I have learned a lot that will immediately translate to my beater 93 Ford F150. That motor is tired and I will be pulling it for a rebuild within the next year.
One last thing, I will put money on the bet that the rings are burned out on my motor. I don't think they can be replaced while the motor is in the car. And I don't think I will rebuild the Lexus motor any way.
06-15-14, 08:49 AM
#33
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Motor Overheated - Removal / Rebuild Step 5 - Exhaust System Removal
OK so this step had me worried for a number of reasons. Rusted bolts, what needs to be removed, etc.
I will post pictures at the end of this thread when I get my camera hooked to my desk-top.
As with every other step so far, removing the exhaust system is very easy.
My first concern was, being a novice, getting crushed by the car. So I cut some tree logs and used those as 'jack stands.' I have redundant points of support so unless there is an earthquake it's unlikely for the system to fail.
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...psfd9bbb69.jpg
With that out of the way I loosened/removed all the bolts. This is a tedious process because it's limited space and sometimes the wrench turns only 1/5 of the way.
To remove the exhaust you start at the rear of the car. There is a hanger (photo below) that has two large rubber band things. I tried to slip on off and forget about that. So instead I removed the part via two bolts. Easy. I put a concrete block further up so the muffler/exhaust does not fall on the ground when it's finally loose.
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...psc2670114.jpg
There is a rubber hanger further up the exhaust and these appear impossible to remove. I looked online and found a tool that costs $20+/- at Oreilly. So I went to Oreilly to get the muffler hanger wrench and they did not have any idea what I was talking about, nor could four of them find a part number online. While looking through the store I found a small gear puller for $5 and thought, why not? Picture below. Using this tool was perfect and saved $15. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND BUY A TOOL TO REMOVE THE RUBBER HANGERS.
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...pscb08c4e1.jpg
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps8866e03d.jpg
After removing the hanger, I used a rubber mallet to tap the pipes apart and was done.
Do the other side and work your way up until everything is removed. Wear glasses so crud does not get in your eyes.
After doing this step I realized how easy this system is to work. No more expensive muffler work ever again.
One other thing I realized. In the future on all my cars I'm going to do a yearly process on my exhaust systems. I'm going to replace bolts and nuts. For a small amount of work it will assure never having bolts that need a torch to remove.
Next step is to remove the driveline. That should be fun.
I will post pictures at the end of this thread when I get my camera hooked to my desk-top.
As with every other step so far, removing the exhaust system is very easy.
My first concern was, being a novice, getting crushed by the car. So I cut some tree logs and used those as 'jack stands.' I have redundant points of support so unless there is an earthquake it's unlikely for the system to fail.
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...psfd9bbb69.jpg
With that out of the way I loosened/removed all the bolts. This is a tedious process because it's limited space and sometimes the wrench turns only 1/5 of the way.
To remove the exhaust you start at the rear of the car. There is a hanger (photo below) that has two large rubber band things. I tried to slip on off and forget about that. So instead I removed the part via two bolts. Easy. I put a concrete block further up so the muffler/exhaust does not fall on the ground when it's finally loose.
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...psc2670114.jpg
There is a rubber hanger further up the exhaust and these appear impossible to remove. I looked online and found a tool that costs $20+/- at Oreilly. So I went to Oreilly to get the muffler hanger wrench and they did not have any idea what I was talking about, nor could four of them find a part number online. While looking through the store I found a small gear puller for $5 and thought, why not? Picture below. Using this tool was perfect and saved $15. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND BUY A TOOL TO REMOVE THE RUBBER HANGERS.
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...pscb08c4e1.jpg
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps8866e03d.jpg
After removing the hanger, I used a rubber mallet to tap the pipes apart and was done.
Do the other side and work your way up until everything is removed. Wear glasses so crud does not get in your eyes.
After doing this step I realized how easy this system is to work. No more expensive muffler work ever again.
One other thing I realized. In the future on all my cars I'm going to do a yearly process on my exhaust systems. I'm going to replace bolts and nuts. For a small amount of work it will assure never having bolts that need a torch to remove.
Next step is to remove the driveline. That should be fun.
Last edited by AndreasMet; 06-15-14 at 11:33 AM. Reason: Added Pictures
06-15-14, 11:17 AM
#34
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Motor Overheated - Removal / Rebuild Step 6 Compression Test
Well most have stated this should be the first step, and they are right. But some things you just know deep down. Here are the results of the compression test. Not only is compression low, it varies all over the place.
I did the test twice for each cyclinder because I did not believe the numbers.
No water in oil. No oil in water. What does it all mean? I'm still going to pull the motor.
Went to a car cruise yesterday and saw some cool rat rods. Perhaps I can use this motor for that. Or maybe I can part-out any good parts. We will see.
Driver Side Front to Back
1 60
2 60
3 80
4 90
Passenger Side Front to Back
1 50
2 50
3 40
4 60
I did the test twice for each cyclinder because I did not believe the numbers.
No water in oil. No oil in water. What does it all mean? I'm still going to pull the motor.
Went to a car cruise yesterday and saw some cool rat rods. Perhaps I can use this motor for that. Or maybe I can part-out any good parts. We will see.
Driver Side Front to Back
1 60
2 60
3 80
4 90
Passenger Side Front to Back
1 50
2 50
3 40
4 60
06-15-14, 06:57 PM
#35
Intermediate
Well most have stated this should be the first step, and they are right. But some things you just know deep down. Here are the results of the compression test. Not only is compression low, it varies all over the place.
I did the test twice for each cyclinder because I did not believe the numbers.
No water in oil. No oil in water. What does it all mean? I'm still going to pull the motor.
Went to a car cruise yesterday and saw some cool rat rods. Perhaps I can use this motor for that. Or maybe I can part-out any good parts. We will see.
Driver Side Front to Back
1 60
2 60
3 80
4 90
Passenger Side Front to Back
1 50
2 50
3 40
4 60
I did the test twice for each cyclinder because I did not believe the numbers.
No water in oil. No oil in water. What does it all mean? I'm still going to pull the motor.
Went to a car cruise yesterday and saw some cool rat rods. Perhaps I can use this motor for that. Or maybe I can part-out any good parts. We will see.
Driver Side Front to Back
1 60
2 60
3 80
4 90
Passenger Side Front to Back
1 50
2 50
3 40
4 60
06-15-14, 10:58 PM
#36
Driver School Candidate
Well most have stated this should be the first step, and they are right. But some things you just know deep down. Here are the results of the compression test. Not only is compression low, it varies all over the place.
I did the test twice for each cyclinder because I did not believe the numbers.
No water in oil. No oil in water. What does it all mean? I'm still going to pull the motor.
Went to a car cruise yesterday and saw some cool rat rods. Perhaps I can use this motor for that. Or maybe I can part-out any good parts. We will see.
Driver Side Front to Back
1 60
2 60
3 80
4 90
Passenger Side Front to Back
1 50
2 50
3 40
4 60
I did the test twice for each cyclinder because I did not believe the numbers.
No water in oil. No oil in water. What does it all mean? I'm still going to pull the motor.
Went to a car cruise yesterday and saw some cool rat rods. Perhaps I can use this motor for that. Or maybe I can part-out any good parts. We will see.
Driver Side Front to Back
1 60
2 60
3 80
4 90
Passenger Side Front to Back
1 50
2 50
3 40
4 60
Try to check compression one more time with adding the oil to each cylinder before test, if compression is growing after that, its the ring if not its valves or gasket.
If that is ring you can try to free your ring from overheated build up, you can just to put kerosene 50/50 mixed with acetone in to each cylinder and soak it over night, during the soak you have to turn the engine by hand couple times, then after overnight soak you can remove the rest of the fluid from cylinder with the syringe, and change the oil because all dirt will go thought the ring to oil pan, after change you can start your engine, make it work at idle for 10 minutes, than press pedal to 3000 rpm, so play with rpm up and down, will be a lot of smoke, when smoke gone drive the car hard.
Because of V type of the engine all rings about 45 degree of the ground, to cover the whole ring, you have to put a lot of premix fluid to each cylinder.
Check you compression one more time, shoud be much better, even back to normal, you have nothing to lose.
Last edited by Rezonans; 06-15-14 at 11:16 PM.
06-16-14, 01:05 PM
#37
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Motor Overheated - Removal / Rebuild Step 7 Drive Train Removal
Disconnecting the drive train is very easy.
Remove heat shields.
Remove six bolts from connection between transmission and drive train.
Three feet toward the rear wheels is a bracket that holds the juncture of the front and rear drive line. I removed that bracket to allow the drive line to pivot.
This allows the forward part of the drive line to slip off of the transmission.
Remove the bracket/support for the automatic transmission.
I put a small jack under the automatic transmission pan to support the transmission.
It looks like the motor is ready to pull out, a few more disconnections. I'm now searching craigslist for a cherry picker as it will probably be cheaper to buy than rent.
It looks like 5 bolts need to be removed on each side to set the engine free.
Next step of removal may not happen this week, it depends if there is a cherry picker available, and how busy I get.
So far it's been about 5 hours (maybe a little less) of labor--not including the time it takes to do research. Someone commented that a good technician can remove one of these motors in three hours. With a proper lift set-up and after doing this procedure three or four times I can see that as a possibility.
I bargained with a local shop to do the swap and they wanted two grand of labor to remove the old motor and install the new motor. If I am half way done with labor then it's clear to me that that shop was asking too much.
Remove heat shields.
Remove six bolts from connection between transmission and drive train.
Three feet toward the rear wheels is a bracket that holds the juncture of the front and rear drive line. I removed that bracket to allow the drive line to pivot.
This allows the forward part of the drive line to slip off of the transmission.
Remove the bracket/support for the automatic transmission.
I put a small jack under the automatic transmission pan to support the transmission.
It looks like the motor is ready to pull out, a few more disconnections. I'm now searching craigslist for a cherry picker as it will probably be cheaper to buy than rent.
It looks like 5 bolts need to be removed on each side to set the engine free.
Next step of removal may not happen this week, it depends if there is a cherry picker available, and how busy I get.
So far it's been about 5 hours (maybe a little less) of labor--not including the time it takes to do research. Someone commented that a good technician can remove one of these motors in three hours. With a proper lift set-up and after doing this procedure three or four times I can see that as a possibility.
I bargained with a local shop to do the swap and they wanted two grand of labor to remove the old motor and install the new motor. If I am half way done with labor then it's clear to me that that shop was asking too much.
06-16-14, 01:08 PM
#38
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
That numbers show that, your rings may be bad or stuck because of over heat, or you have bend valves or head gasket is leaking a lot.
Try to check compression one more time with adding the oil to each cylinder before test, if compression is growing after that, its the ring if not its valves or gasket.
If that is ring you can try to free your ring from overheated build up, you can just to put kerosene 50/50 mixed with acetone in to each cylinder and soak it over night, during the soak you have to turn the engine by hand couple times, then after overnight soak you can remove the rest of the fluid from cylinder with the syringe, and change the oil because all dirt will go thought the ring to oil pan, after change you can start your engine, make it work at idle for 10 minutes, than press pedal to 3000 rpm, so play with rpm up and down, will be a lot of smoke, when smoke gone drive the car hard.
Because of V type of the engine all rings about 45 degree of the ground, to cover the whole ring, you have to put a lot of premix fluid to each cylinder.
Check you compression one more time, shoud be much better, even back to normal, you have nothing to lose.
Try to check compression one more time with adding the oil to each cylinder before test, if compression is growing after that, its the ring if not its valves or gasket.
If that is ring you can try to free your ring from overheated build up, you can just to put kerosene 50/50 mixed with acetone in to each cylinder and soak it over night, during the soak you have to turn the engine by hand couple times, then after overnight soak you can remove the rest of the fluid from cylinder with the syringe, and change the oil because all dirt will go thought the ring to oil pan, after change you can start your engine, make it work at idle for 10 minutes, than press pedal to 3000 rpm, so play with rpm up and down, will be a lot of smoke, when smoke gone drive the car hard.
Because of V type of the engine all rings about 45 degree of the ground, to cover the whole ring, you have to put a lot of premix fluid to each cylinder.
Check you compression one more time, shoud be much better, even back to normal, you have nothing to lose.
Once I get another motor in, I'm going to tear apart the old motor and see what was up. I will be posting all about that.
06-16-14, 04:01 PM
#39
Driver School Candidate
Thanks for the response. I'm too far down the road now to try this at the present time. I wish I would have been able to try that approach last week. Live and learn.
Once I get another motor in, I'm going to tear apart the old motor and see what was up. I will be posting all about that.
Once I get another motor in, I'm going to tear apart the old motor and see what was up. I will be posting all about that.
06-20-14, 10:05 AM
#40
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Motor Overheated - Removal / Rebuild Step 8 Disconnect Transmission (remove)
Assembling the crane to hoist the motor.
Last edited by AndreasMet; 06-20-14 at 02:41 PM.
The following users liked this post:
wyattlevi (08-23-22)
07-11-14, 04:32 PM
#41
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Got the Motor Out
OK, so it's been a while and there has been family vacation, in-laws visiting, and other house guests, The 430 sat patiently waiting for me to continue the motor removal process.
As a brief refresher, I was going to remove the transmission first and changed my mind and decided to go with a replacement motor and transmission. The cost will be close to the same, and if the new transmission is bad then I still have the old one to use.
I studied the motor a lot and thought even more about the daunting task of hauling the motor out.
Bought a 2 ton cherry picker at harbor freight, put it together, and thought about it some more.
I finally decided I am way to deep over my head and needed to help. So I went to CraigsList and called a bunch of mobile mechanics. The first guy who called came by and after studying what I did to date, we went to work. By the way, it took 2 hours to get the motor out because we had to remove some extra stuff to give the motor more clearance. And another point is I could never have done the final deed without the help of someone who knew exactly what to do.
Here is how the process went.
0. Disconnect the motor mount bolts from underneath. This is far easier than trying to unbolt the 5 bolts that hold the motor mounts to the motor.
1. We made sure everything was disconnected. It looked like it was.
2. Hooked the cherry picker chain up to the hoist points located on top of the motor.
3. Make sure the cherry picker is as low to the motor as possible. Event lifting an extra inch in height is a good thing to avoid.
3. Put the back of the tranny on a side-laying auto jack to keep it slightly off the ground.
4. Hoisted a few inches until the motor was binding against the firewall. It was binding because the oil filter mount was hitting the front sway bar. So remove the oil filter mount by taking off three bolts.
5. Rocked the motor back and forth till it was able to move around.
6. Re-prop the jack under the tranny to keep a clockwise rotation on the motor (this got it off the fire wall).
7. Important step. Roll the car backward a few inches. Re-chock.
8. Lift the motor higher. Watch out for the AC condenser. We dinged it a little. it may have to be replaced. Will do a leakdown test to see.
9. At this point my helper climbed onto the inside of the engine cowl and we used a 2x4 to press down on the back of the tranny so it would not bind against the bottom of the firewall coming out.
10. Then when almost clear the rear of the tranny is lifted from the back to clear the front of the car.
And it's out.
After doing it once the next time would go much easier. And it was really quite simple.
So I ordered a motor on e-bay and in two weeks it's time to put it back in.
Costs to date:
$200 Cherry Picker
$80 Transmission Jack
$100 Misc Tools
$100 Hired Help
Total hours spent on the job so far is about 10-12. Doing it a second time would be about 5-6 hours. Cheapest shop wanted at least $1,000 to take the motor out, and another $1,000 to put it back in.
I will document getting the engine back in in a few weeks when the motor shows up.
As a brief refresher, I was going to remove the transmission first and changed my mind and decided to go with a replacement motor and transmission. The cost will be close to the same, and if the new transmission is bad then I still have the old one to use.
I studied the motor a lot and thought even more about the daunting task of hauling the motor out.
Bought a 2 ton cherry picker at harbor freight, put it together, and thought about it some more.
I finally decided I am way to deep over my head and needed to help. So I went to CraigsList and called a bunch of mobile mechanics. The first guy who called came by and after studying what I did to date, we went to work. By the way, it took 2 hours to get the motor out because we had to remove some extra stuff to give the motor more clearance. And another point is I could never have done the final deed without the help of someone who knew exactly what to do.
Here is how the process went.
0. Disconnect the motor mount bolts from underneath. This is far easier than trying to unbolt the 5 bolts that hold the motor mounts to the motor.
1. We made sure everything was disconnected. It looked like it was.
2. Hooked the cherry picker chain up to the hoist points located on top of the motor.
3. Make sure the cherry picker is as low to the motor as possible. Event lifting an extra inch in height is a good thing to avoid.
3. Put the back of the tranny on a side-laying auto jack to keep it slightly off the ground.
4. Hoisted a few inches until the motor was binding against the firewall. It was binding because the oil filter mount was hitting the front sway bar. So remove the oil filter mount by taking off three bolts.
5. Rocked the motor back and forth till it was able to move around.
6. Re-prop the jack under the tranny to keep a clockwise rotation on the motor (this got it off the fire wall).
7. Important step. Roll the car backward a few inches. Re-chock.
8. Lift the motor higher. Watch out for the AC condenser. We dinged it a little. it may have to be replaced. Will do a leakdown test to see.
9. At this point my helper climbed onto the inside of the engine cowl and we used a 2x4 to press down on the back of the tranny so it would not bind against the bottom of the firewall coming out.
10. Then when almost clear the rear of the tranny is lifted from the back to clear the front of the car.
And it's out.
After doing it once the next time would go much easier. And it was really quite simple.
So I ordered a motor on e-bay and in two weeks it's time to put it back in.
Costs to date:
$200 Cherry Picker
$80 Transmission Jack
$100 Misc Tools
$100 Hired Help
Total hours spent on the job so far is about 10-12. Doing it a second time would be about 5-6 hours. Cheapest shop wanted at least $1,000 to take the motor out, and another $1,000 to put it back in.
I will document getting the engine back in in a few weeks when the motor shows up.
07-11-14, 06:14 PM
#42
Good job yanking that thing. The process sounds exactly like what my Dad and I used to do with his cars back in the day (70's). We used sawhorses and chains and a bumper jack to get the motors out. Once we got the motor high enough we'd just roll the car backwards and then lower the motor onto a big cart. Haven't done that in years but I wouldn't hesitate to pull a motor again, if I had to. Probably do what you did and get a hoist. Nowadays, it's rare that the motor wears out before the car - as long as you take care of it.
07-13-14, 10:16 AM
#44
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Learnings and Photos
Here are some random thoughts on learning so far with respect to engine removal. Long Winded. I hope it proves useful. Remember this motor has 220,000 miles on it.
General Thoughts
1. Believe it, or not, taking a motor out is not really difficult. I consider myself a beginner level mechanic so if I can do it then you can too.
2. Doing a project like this increases your knowledge level, and confidence, around your car.
3. The Lexus LS 430 is designed for easy maintenance, in my opinion.
4. If you get stuck on something find an experienced mechanic to help you out. It will cost some $, but you will still be saving money. CraigsList mobile mechanic key word worked well.
5. Plan on 10 hours of actual work (not including head scratching and other studying) the first time around. The second time you do it plan on 5 hours—or less assuming no problems.
6. So you save up to $100 per hour. Not bad for after-tax money.
7. The Chilton online guide is crappy, but good enough for the removal. If you plan on digging into the guts of the motor then get yourself a shop-guide ($200 if you can find one).
About Transmission Removal
1. Take the transmission out with the motor.
2. If you need to replace the transmission then it will be easier to disassemble outside.
3. I cannot imagine trying to re-attach the transmission to the motor when the motor is inside the car.
4. Disconnecting the transmission fluid lines from the transmission was difficult and I broke a line because the bolt was seized to the line. The resultant twist damaged the line. It would need to be replaced. If you take the transmission out with the motor you don’t have to touch anything. See photo.
5. While unsnapping one of the electronic connections to the transmission, a wire broke. It needs to be repaired. If you take the transmission out with the motor, you don’t need to worry about that. See photo.
6. The attached photo shows what I found as insurmountable challenges in removal and planned re-installation:
a. Some of the bolts are very difficult to access and I tried using 30” socket extensions.
b. Some bolts would not come off.
c. I would have needed a better impact gun. But what would happen is I broke a bolt?
Motor Mount Broken
One of these was broken. So it needs to be replaced. Not sure the used replacement engine will need the motor mount. It’s easy to re-install with the engine out
. The last service job had done was to replace the shocks and some front end components. That was to get rid of a rattle. I paid some $$$ to have this work done. While those things needed to be replaced, the service shop did not identify the motor mount as the problem. This is why you need to understand your car better before you get someone to do the work. With a little bit of knowledge you will know more than they do, and you will be able to save $$$.
Clean-up Engine Compartment
I did a half azz job cleaning the compartment with full strength Purple Power and a pressure washer set to low pressure. Maybe I will hit it again. It was very dirty with 11 years of oil and grime.
Air Conditioner Condenser
It’s going to be hard to not ding your condenser. I don’t know if it will still work. We will pressure test system to see if it lost pressure. And it will likely get dinged again when the motor goes back in. I think it’s a safe bet to plan on replacing this part when you do the motor. I’m not worried about the $100 cost. It looks like it is easy to replace and maybe the AC system will work better. Maybe not.
Engine Inspection (external) Oil Leaks Valve Covers
While you don’t have to take motor out to see this, I thought it would help to look at why I had to put oil into the car more often than before. You will note the leaks from the seals. Without opening things up it’s hard to say if the leaks are going into the timing belt. Will take a look once I get the replacement motor installed. I plan on disassembling the motor down to the short block.
Engine Inspection (external) Oil Pan Seal Leak
Relatively minor leaking. But probably should have been replaced.
Transmission
Pretty much bomb proof. I don’t remember the last time I did anything to service the transmission. The fluid smelled pretty bad (burned) and had an ugly color. It’s testament to Toyota durability. Be nice and change your transmission fluid. Not bad for 220,000 miles.
Bolts Connecting to Catalytic Converters
Note the broken bolt and the stripped bolt. Removing the catalytic converters was worrisome because those bolts did not want to come off. The end result was not too bad. It would be relatively easy to replace the bolts and I would likely put shiny new bolts in everywhere.
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...psb85c8177.jpg
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...psa0346233.jpg
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps7a7b6e37.jpg
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps428941db.jpg
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...psf151900a.jpg
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps4ecf8cf5.jpg
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...psb376ce2f.jpg
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...psb85c8177.jpg
General Thoughts
1. Believe it, or not, taking a motor out is not really difficult. I consider myself a beginner level mechanic so if I can do it then you can too.
2. Doing a project like this increases your knowledge level, and confidence, around your car.
3. The Lexus LS 430 is designed for easy maintenance, in my opinion.
4. If you get stuck on something find an experienced mechanic to help you out. It will cost some $, but you will still be saving money. CraigsList mobile mechanic key word worked well.
5. Plan on 10 hours of actual work (not including head scratching and other studying) the first time around. The second time you do it plan on 5 hours—or less assuming no problems.
6. So you save up to $100 per hour. Not bad for after-tax money.
7. The Chilton online guide is crappy, but good enough for the removal. If you plan on digging into the guts of the motor then get yourself a shop-guide ($200 if you can find one).
About Transmission Removal
1. Take the transmission out with the motor.
2. If you need to replace the transmission then it will be easier to disassemble outside.
3. I cannot imagine trying to re-attach the transmission to the motor when the motor is inside the car.
4. Disconnecting the transmission fluid lines from the transmission was difficult and I broke a line because the bolt was seized to the line. The resultant twist damaged the line. It would need to be replaced. If you take the transmission out with the motor you don’t have to touch anything. See photo.
5. While unsnapping one of the electronic connections to the transmission, a wire broke. It needs to be repaired. If you take the transmission out with the motor, you don’t need to worry about that. See photo.
6. The attached photo shows what I found as insurmountable challenges in removal and planned re-installation:
a. Some of the bolts are very difficult to access and I tried using 30” socket extensions.
b. Some bolts would not come off.
c. I would have needed a better impact gun. But what would happen is I broke a bolt?
Motor Mount Broken
One of these was broken. So it needs to be replaced. Not sure the used replacement engine will need the motor mount. It’s easy to re-install with the engine out
. The last service job had done was to replace the shocks and some front end components. That was to get rid of a rattle. I paid some $$$ to have this work done. While those things needed to be replaced, the service shop did not identify the motor mount as the problem. This is why you need to understand your car better before you get someone to do the work. With a little bit of knowledge you will know more than they do, and you will be able to save $$$.Clean-up Engine Compartment
I did a half azz job cleaning the compartment with full strength Purple Power and a pressure washer set to low pressure. Maybe I will hit it again. It was very dirty with 11 years of oil and grime.
Air Conditioner Condenser
It’s going to be hard to not ding your condenser. I don’t know if it will still work. We will pressure test system to see if it lost pressure. And it will likely get dinged again when the motor goes back in. I think it’s a safe bet to plan on replacing this part when you do the motor. I’m not worried about the $100 cost. It looks like it is easy to replace and maybe the AC system will work better. Maybe not.
Engine Inspection (external) Oil Leaks Valve Covers
While you don’t have to take motor out to see this, I thought it would help to look at why I had to put oil into the car more often than before. You will note the leaks from the seals. Without opening things up it’s hard to say if the leaks are going into the timing belt. Will take a look once I get the replacement motor installed. I plan on disassembling the motor down to the short block.
Engine Inspection (external) Oil Pan Seal Leak
Relatively minor leaking. But probably should have been replaced.
Transmission
Pretty much bomb proof. I don’t remember the last time I did anything to service the transmission. The fluid smelled pretty bad (burned) and had an ugly color. It’s testament to Toyota durability. Be nice and change your transmission fluid. Not bad for 220,000 miles.
Bolts Connecting to Catalytic Converters
Note the broken bolt and the stripped bolt. Removing the catalytic converters was worrisome because those bolts did not want to come off. The end result was not too bad. It would be relatively easy to replace the bolts and I would likely put shiny new bolts in everywhere.
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07-13-14, 11:34 AM
#45
Thanks for posting all of those pictures, it would be great if maybe a moderator could save them on the site for future reference so they don't get lost on Photobucket.
I'm glad you kept with the project, but I have to say, if it was me, I would have just bought a used LS with lower miles and sold the old car for parts. This looks like a long and expensive project, even if you do the work yourself. And months of downtime would be a real issue for me.
With 200k miles and needing a new engine and transmission, I would thing just about everything is getting close to needing to be replaced, including the entire suspension, fuel system, sensors, injectors, etc. I would rather gamble on one with 100k miles and take my losses, but that would be incredibly boring.
I'm glad you kept with the project, but I have to say, if it was me, I would have just bought a used LS with lower miles and sold the old car for parts. This looks like a long and expensive project, even if you do the work yourself. And months of downtime would be a real issue for me.
With 200k miles and needing a new engine and transmission, I would thing just about everything is getting close to needing to be replaced, including the entire suspension, fuel system, sensors, injectors, etc. I would rather gamble on one with 100k miles and take my losses, but that would be incredibly boring.